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Santa can you hear me?

I have been so good this year. Well, maybe not, but with Christmas around the corner it’s time to write the letter to the good ol man up North and ask for the things that you want for Christmas!

1. A partridge in a pear tree

I’m totally serious. I would love to have a partridge in a pear tree. It would be remiss not to ask for this. How many people have actually gotten a partridge in a pear tree?

No? Well, there you go. ;)

2. Turducken

Christmas used to be all about turkeys. Well, not anymore. Turkey is so ’90s. The thing to have on your Christmas dinner table this year is the turducken. What exactly is a turducken?

Well, put simply, it’s a chicken stuffed into a duck which is then stuffed into a turkey. Now how about that!

3. Travel the world and the seven seas

I love to travel and though I’ve been to Europe, Korea, China and several other SEA destinations this year, I would love to spend more time at each place…taking my time, going through every nook and cranny of the places I step foot on.

I’m particularly interested in doing the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which no self respecting traveller can call him/herself that until this ritual is complete. Starting at China and going all the way to Russia. I’ll send you a postcard from Russia (with love).

The Eurorail coming-of-age trail blazing is also something I’ll want to do – a pass to travel all around Europe at your own leisure. I’ll make Ireland my first stop, I’ve never been there and it’s home to St James Gate Brewery in Dublin, which produces the fine brew we call Guinness. :)

4. A new car

I’m not one for material possessions and love experiences more than anything. However, my old car has been through a lot of…er, vehicular mishaps and it seems like EVERYTHING is wrong with it. I probably should send it to a workshop but I fear that it would cost more to fix than to purchase a new one.

How I’m going to pay for the down payment and monthly instalments would require very creative budgeting but hey, since this is a wish list…

5. 5 gold rings

Seriously.

I’m so broke right now that 5 gold rings sounds (no pun intended) just about right.

6. A job as a travel writer

Somewhat related to the above, I know that the industry is hard to break in and not as glamorous as it sounds. It’s often a low paid job where you most likely have to top up the balance yourself and you spend a lot of time writing and compiling and doing good ol fashioned legwork. I even hear the Lonely Planet writers have to take a course in self defence before they even get sent out.

However, despite all that it’s something I would love to do. It’s not about the money, it’s about setting your own hours and doing what you like.

7. A new digicam

I have a dSLR and a compact digicam and I tend to use the latter more since it’s shockproof and waterproof, two important qualities when I bring it on my vacations. However, all the trips and travels and misadventures has given it a good beating and I wouldn’t mind getting another one for Christmas. :)

8. Get to see my family more

I must admit, with my family scattered around, it’s hard to have the traditional annual family vacations that my father set a precedent for ever since I was a kid. My sister is married with a baby daughter in New Zealand with my mom and my dad is in Sarawak while I’m working here.

Blood runs thicker than water after all. The warmth of having family and giving and receiving support is, pardon the cliché, invaluable.

My dad and I used drink together and my mom has been known to have a pint or two herself. She actually can drink the two of us under the table if she sets her mind on doing it. Heh! It’ll be good to have a family get-together where we can just sit around the living room, nursing a pint of Guinness.

9. A notebook

No, not the ones made from trees, I have come to the conclusion that while having a 17” widescreen notebook is great when you’re at home, lugging all of it in its 2.7 kg glory while travelling is decidedly not.

One thing on my wish list would be for a small and compact notebook where I can write, access the net and run Photoshop while travelling.

10. Get another tattoo

I’ve always wanted to get another tattoo – I even know what I want it to be but I’ve put it off for years, going for piercings instead. I don’t know why I’m procrastinating on this since it’s not on public skin e.g. visible so it’s not a work related issue.

I want a full color piece on my left leg, starting from the ankle up to the knee. It would be a rotting female corpse hand reaching up from the grave and gripping me, raking her fingernails and drawing blood down as a reminder. I guess the subject of the reminder is personal since I’ve subconsciously put it off for so long but I want to get it done soon.

11. More personal time

I would love to have more personal time for me to do the things I like. I love reading and have recently completed the Millennium trilogy – a series of novels which centres on Lisabeth Salander, a rather unique and likable character whom I can relate to.

I tend to be a voracious reader but I never stray far from my favourite genres – I picked this out on a whim and I’m glad I did. It’s a good read and I aim to do more reading – preferably not just on the porcelain throne. ;)

12. A Christmas dinner with friends

Since my family won’t be together during Christmas, I’ll love to have a nice Christmas dinner with friends complete with several pints of Guinness. Christmas is all about sharing, gift exchanging, letting them know how much they mean in your life and nothing beats a good dinner recounting with your closest friends – sharing stories, spending quality time (which all of us lack with work and everything) and just being together with good food and drink.

On the same note, Guinness is having some consumer promos on their Facebook so it’ll be a great place to find an outlet to have pre-Christmas and Christmas events where you can celebrate the festive season. Surf over to Guinness Malaysia Facebook for more details.

You’ll also get a gift all month long, courtesy of Guinness when you buy 6 pints of Guinness Draught or 1 bucket of Guinness Stout – a heritage collection glass with old Guinness ads! =D

There is also going to be games (Merry Mat anyone?) and surprises at selected outlets starting from 17:59 (the year Guinness was founded). That’s one minute before 6 pm.

Well, since I’m not going home for Christmas this year, I figured I’ll grab 4 of you and we’ll throw our own mini-Christmas bash instead! I’ve arranged for a cosy dinner for the 5 of us at Backyard in Hartamas, KL on the 22nd December at 7:30 pm.

I’ll select 4 of the most creative answers we’ll all have a great time this Christmas! Don’t worry about drinks and food, it’ll be on me! It’ll be fun, just comment here and and tell me “What you want for your Merry Guinness” this year. Make yourself available on that date and we’ll have an awesome time! My treat. :)

i REALLY want to have my own place and not sharing with mates anymore so I can live peacefully and my family can stay with me when they are in town. It’s also more convenient for me to have my Guinness anytime without anyone giving me a weird look like i should be sent to jail for drinking wtf.

i want all of the things i`ve listed below with no particular order; –

1) For everyone to get of my back and stop questioning why i am the way i am..cause fuck you i am the way i am!!
2) My developers to rush the CF(Certificate of Fitness) so i can sell my house and fuck of from this country.
3) To win a lifetime supply of air tickets…you know…like what you won from Air Asia!!
4) All my credit card bills to be paid off…cause fuckin hell!! I cannot remember the last time i checked my bank account and saw my salary innit!!
5) 7days 6night fully paid trip to Maldives. For 1 pax!!
6) My car to repair itself…i regret the day i settled for Proton.
7) My cubicle view replaced by a beach view or mountain or a volcano or…you get my drift.
8) Based on all of the above…maybe i should be more realistic with what i want….but hei….none of the above is impossible so pamper me now!!

HB, I do community service and see needy children around the holiday. Many kids want this and that for Xmas but I notice a few very special and unselfish one all they want it their parents or one parent since so many do not have two parents fore Xmas.

They want happiness and parents to have a good job to earn good income for good family life. I ask themselves they said that it all they want.

What do I want for my Merry Guinness this year? In no particular order:

1) For the Guinness R&D team to somehow come up with a way to make bottled/canned Guinness Stout taste exactly like Guinness Draught so that I can drink Guinness at my own leisure at home. I love the freshness of Guinness Draught but for some reason I can’t stomach the taste of bottled/canned Guinness. The taste is world’s apart.

2) World peace, and to eradicate hunger and poverty in the world. Nah, screw that, I’m gonna be selfish and wish that I win the Magnum 4d Jackpot 1 Prize which now stands at a cool RM24 million. If I do win it, then I’ll use a portion of it to do my part to help underprivileged children around the world (which indirectly ties in to the hunger and poverty issue) …….. see I’m not 100% selfish, I can be a philanthropist as well :)

3) Looking forward to 2011 and am optimistic that I will see a marked improvement in all aspects of my life compared to this year (which consists of 80% downs and 20% ups and which eerily mirrors my mood swings ratio due to my bi-polarity)

4) Property prices to come down and car prices to come down (wishful thinking) and an increase in monthly income (not asking for a lot, just enough so I can keep up with the rising inflation cost)

5) Save up enough money to be able to go on a “trip of a lifetime” to Iquitos, Peru to participate in an Ayahuasca workshop (which covers ceremonies, shamanistic rituals and spiritual retreat) to pursue my personal quest for expanded awareness and amplified states of consciousness.

hb, you are a damn good guy, kinda weird, but that is great if I were santa, Id grant your wishes. with a few codicils ( hey- I am almost 51, I reserve the right to act like an older uncle). 1.) a cartridge in a bare tree, in remembrence of many in war torn and impoverished countries. 2.) turduken? really. I am a carnivore, but a chicken in a duck in a turkey is a bit much even for me. 3.) Wish granted. hell you should be on tv and have a travel show; I ‘d watch it. I have learned alot from your site, about places I will probably never see. 4.) ummm… a nice late model used car…let some one else eat the depreciation of a new one. Your cars ( like mine) seem to acquire a lot of dammage. 5.) five gold rings- knowing where you might put them, they better be gold. granted. 6.) granted, refer to #3. 7.) I donno. I guess ( neccessary for your great site and work) 8.) Granted. everone needs to be with their families more. or friends. 9.) granted, but don’t forget how to use paper and pencil. or at lest plenty of back up thumb drives. 10.) not a big fan, but whatever floats your boat. 11.) some but not too much extra . I have found too much leads me into things I shoulnt be doing. idle hands, ya know. 12.) granted. very true. I don’t need presents or gift cards ( although all are appreciated) but just a nice meal with family and friends, with out any one getting themselves deep in debt, is a nice gift. 13.) my thanks to you, for all your hard work on your website. thank you, HB, and merry Christmas, and all other holidays and holy days that I might not be aware of. The best to you and your family.
Tom

Would love to win the prize but won’t be in KL around then! But I just had to “like” this post cuz it was hilarious and cuz I posted “Santa baby, can you hear me” on my facebook status the same day you posted this!
OMG and WTF to the turducken!!
May I suggest you get yourself a macbook air for your next laptop?
5 gold rings are actually pretty expensive now if considering the price of gold and mind you, if you had some gold rings and sold it off, you may make quite a bit of money! (That’s why even children are digging the Bau mines now!)
I wanna be a travel VJ!! Is there such a thing? Hahaha… Travel around the world and learn about their music and show it to everyone!

what i really, really, really want for my merry guinness this year..is..actually, there are so many things. i want to be selfish & have ‘em all to myself but i guess this is a lot like that genie from a lamp thing.

“if i had one wish, i’d wish for 3 more wishes”

not happening.

off the top of my head, i’d want happiness that doesn’t have a shelf life :o) i think you’ve heard that one before.

i know what i want but i don’t know how to get there lah.

one of the best forms of happiness would be just one more day with my por por. one more christmas. with turkey she can’t chew with her dentures. & yuletide carols she won’t understand.